At last night’s ASCAP country music awards ceremony, songwriter Brett James took home his second ASCAP songwriter of the year honor for helping write five of the organization’s most performed songs of the past year. Songwriter Josh Kear won for the second time as well. His win came in the song of the year category […]

The trio of Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip has quickly become a hot commodity in the country music songwriting realm. All three being from Georgia, they’ve embraced their newfound collective notoriety and dubbed themselves the Peach Pickers. The three friends scored their first hit as a songwriting trio in 2008 with Brooks & […]

In an interview with Gary Graff for The Malcomb Daily, Ronnie Dunn shoulders the blame for the split between himself an Kix Brooks. Dunn, in fact, has said he’s responsible for the ultimate decision to split, saying he quit the group over disagreements he and Brooks were having over what songs to include on their […]

With 34,000 copies sold, the new album from Jerrod Niemann, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, effectively ending Lady Antebellum‘s six-month streak. The big news revealed during Taylor Swift‘s live web chat on Tuesday is that her third album, titled Speak Now, will be released […]

With her win at last night’s ACM Awards, Carrie Underwood became the first woman to win entertainer of the year twice. Other notable facts from the ACM Awards website: Brad Paisley is the only artist to win three or more consecutive honors in the top male vocalist of the year category (last night was his […]

Sony Music Nashville head honcho Joe Galante — the man responsible for launching/guiding the careers of acts like Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Chris Young, Carrie Underwood, and many more — announced his plans to leave the company after a nearly 40-year career. Galante is expected to assist his replacement, Gary Overton, transition into his CEO […]

The Academy of Country Music announced nominees for the top new artist categories, which will be fan-voted for the second year in a row. They include: Top New Solo Vocalist Luke Bryan Jamey Johnson Chris Young Top New Vocal Duo Bomshel Joey + Rory Steel Magnolia Top New Vocal Group Eli Young Band Gloriana The […]

I haven’t watched the CMA awards in years. Sometimes I’ve had a gig, but most of the time, there wasn’t anything there to interest me. I would flip channels and land on the awards show, but wouldn’t stay long. In the 80s, I didn’t miss a show. All my favorite artists were on. Country had […]

Is Dave Haywood going solo? Only if he thinks his latest song he’s written, “I’m Leaving The Gravy Train” is going to be a hit. – Ken No, but he will be featured on the upcoming season of Meerkat Manor. — CMW I don’t think so, because he’s a pretty integral part of… um, what […]

I reviewed Texas honky-tonker Kevin Fowler’s new single “Beer Season” this week, and the comments section brought up some interesting points on the pluses and minuses of being a regional artist. Fowler is a mainstay in the Texas country music scene, but the only songs he’s written that have reached mainstream success have been recorded […]